May 01, 2023
Arms Control for Artificial Intelligence
Militaries worldwide are working on how best to develop, integrate, and use AI in their weapons systems. While many of these systems are yet to be realized, breakthroughs in AI could have a significant impact on how militaries operate over time. Concern over military AI systems have led some activists to call for prohibitions or regulations on some AI-enabled weapons systems.
The best illustration of the dynamics of the desirability of arms control is the international community’s response to nuclear weapons versus chemical weapons.
Yet, AI has several characteristics that make it difficult to control. As a general-purpose enabling technology, AI is like electricity or the internal combustion engine and has countless nonmilitary or defense applications. It differs from some military technologies because it is predominantly developed in the civilian sector by engineers in private industry or in research organizations. While the widespread availability of AI makes a complete ban on all military applications of AI unlikely, there may be an opportunity for the international community to work together to regulate or prohibit certain uses of military AI.
Read the full article from the Texas National Security Review.
More from CNAS
-
Response to Request For Comment: “Bolstering Data Center Growth, Resilience, and Security”
Commentary
CNAS experts emphasize the importance of data centers for artificial intelligence...
By Janet Egan, Geoffrey Gertz, Caleb Withers & Grace Park
-
Will Technology Define the Future of Geopolitics?
Rachel Ziemba, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joins Steve Paikin to discuss the era of growing geopolitical tensions paralleled by deepening ...
By Rachel Ziemba
-
Robots: The Aliens We Made
Video
Paul Scharre, Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at CNAS, joins Emily Chang to discuss the world’s most advanced, and most intelligent, robots. Will the creation...
By Paul Scharre
-
The Trump Administration Must Make Quantum Technology a Priority in the First 100 Days
Commentary
The United States’ long-standing supremacy in quantum technology—a bedrock of U.S. economic and national security—is in peril at an important inflection point....
By Sam Howell
